Unification Campaign By Prithivi Narayan Shah

Narabhupal Shah

          Narabhupal Shah had 4 wives. The wives of Narabhupal Shah along their children are shown below:

1. Chandraprabhawati (the princess of Khanchi)

2. Kausalyawati (daughter of King Gandharva Sen of Palpa)

-          Prithivi Narayan Shah

-          Dalmordan Shah

-          Prithivipal Shah

-          Padma Kumari

-          Bilas Kumari

3. Buddhimati (princess of Parbat)

-          Brindakeshar Shah

-          Surpratap Shah

-          Padmawati

-          Indrawati

-          Sawowati

-          Hement Kumari

4. Suvatrawati (princess of Tanahun)

-          Mahoddamkirti

-          Daljit Shah

-          Laksawati

-          Surat Kumari

Short Description

          Prithivi Narayan Shah is the beginner of Modern Nepal. He is known as symbol of national unity. He was regarded as the “Father of Nepal”. He was courageous and brave king. He was ambitious. He had a good quality that he united Nepal.

Prithivi Narayan Shah is compared with

-          King Akbar of India

Akbar is the great Muslim emperor in India. He was a follower of Muslim religion. Though he was Muslim, he loved people of all religion.

-          Alfred of Britain

-          Bismarck of Germany

-          Canvour of Italy

Birth and Death

Birth: - Poush 27, 1779 B.S

          January 11, 1723 A.D Monday

Death: - Magh 1, 1831 B.S

January 14, 1775 A.D Saturday

Relation

Father: - Narabhupal Shah

Mother: - Kaushalyawati

Father-In-Law:- Abhiman Singh

                   Hemkarna

Wives: - Indrakumari (daughter of Hemkarna of Makwanpur)

          Narendralaxmi (daughter of Abhiman Singh of Banaras)

About Parents

          Prithivi Narayan Shah was the son of Narabhupal Shah. He was eldest son of Kaushalyawati. Chandraprabhawati, the first queen of Narabhupal Shah took the responsibilities to educate Prithivi Narayan Shah. Prithivi Narayan Shah becomes brave, bold, wise & visionary under the guidance of Chandraprabhawati.

          Prithivi Narayan Shah had two wives. The first marriage of Prithivi Narayan Shah was held with the Indrakumari, the daughter of Hemkarna Sen, King of Makawanpur. Then for the second time, his marriage was held with NArendra Laxmi, the daughter of the Rajput of Banaras.

A dispute in his family

          Prithivi Narayan Shah was born after 7 months of Conception. The son of Buddhimati, Brindakeshar Shah was born after 10 months of conception. Due to this, a great dispute was created. After the early death of Brindakeshar Shah, the dispute was finished.

Before the birth of Prithivi Narayan Shah

-          Nepal was very weak and was divided into various states. There were 24 states in Gandaki zone and 22 states in Karnali zone. Similarly, the east Nepal was also fragmented into three different states.

-          During this period of time, British were looking forward to extend their territory towards Nepal

During the rule of Narabhupal Shah

Narabhupal Shah had once attacked the Nuwakot. But, at that time, he was defeated.

After the death of Narabhupal Shah

          After the death of Narabhupal Shah in Chaitra 25, 1799 B.S, Prithivi Narayan Shah became the King of Gorkha.

Will & desire of Prithivi Narayan Shah

Prithivi Narayan Shah had a great desire to unify Nepal. He could even sacrifice his personal will to get success in unifying the Nepal.

Role of Prithivi Narayan Shah during war

During the war, he involved in war. Due to this nobody could recognized whether he was soldier or king. Prithivi Narayan Shah was a situational king. He made decision according to situation & time. He applied peace war technique to get victory over states. 

For defeating the states, Prithivi Narayan Shah could

-          Establish diplomatic relation with the enemy.

-          Establish relation with the strong neighboring states

-          Establish maternal relation

After the kingship of Prithivi Narayan Shah

After the kingship of Prithivi Narayan Shah, he wanted to defeat the Nuwakot for the first time, as it was the western main gateway to Kathmandu. But during the first attack to Nuwakot, he was defeated.

Why was Prithivi Narayan Shah defeated?

1. Due to lack of weapons.
2. Due to lack of geographical knowledge of Nuwakot.
3. Due to lack of well trained armies.
4. Due to lack of economic condition.

At that time, it was difficult to win the war with the strange. When Prithivi Narayan Shah became king for first time, he tried to win with the strange. So, he was defeated, during the first attack to Nuwakot.

During the first attack to Nuwakot, Prithivi Narayan Shah sent his troops under the command of Kazi Biraj Thapa.

At that time, there was lack of economic condition. So, he collected money from different sources. He started diplomatic relation with neighboring states. Most of the states were won by him due to the diplomatic relation.

Why Prithivi Narayan Shah wanted to attack Nuwakot?

1. It was a trade route through which the trade with Tibet could be conducted.
2. It was suitable place to collect information about the valley.
3. It was a suitable place to build well protected forts.
4. Fertile basins of Nuwakot were granaries of food grains.

After being defeated

          Prithivi Narayan Shah did not become upset from his defeat. But when he was defeated, he learned lesson from defeat. He realized that he had to improve the strength of troops and further more skilled armies were required. To solve this problem, he went to Banaras and collected plenty of skilled armies. He recrited the people from the Terai in Gorkha army and gave proper training. In this way, he started preparation for second attack. Before this, he sent Kalu Panday to establish friendly relation with Lamjung as it was the great enemy of Gorkha. After completing all preparation, the Gorkhali soldiers invaded Nuwakot, in 1801 B.S. During this war, Prithivi Narayan Shah himself commanded the Gorkha army consisting of nearly 1000 solider. Kalu Panday marched from the route to Gorkha, Kriti Mahodan Shah led his troops from Dharmapani route. In this way, Shankhamani Rana, commonder of Nuwakot army was killed.

War at Belkot

          Finally troops of Nuwakot went to Belkot & Prithivi Narayan Shah invaded Belkot. A great practice & lots of armies were required to occupy Belkot. At that time, Jayanta Rana had gone to Belkot from Kathmandu. Jayanta Rana was arrested & killed in the war of Belkot.

          To chase the Gorkha from Nuwakot, a troop was sent under the command of Kashiram by the king of Kathmandu, Jayprakash Malla. But Kashiram was defeated. Kashiram was killed by Jayprakash Malla thinking that he helped the enemy.

What benefits did Prithivi Narayan Shah got due to victory over Nuwakot ?

1. Land of Nuwakot was fertile and plenty of food grains, fruits, vegetables, etc could be grown which would help to uplift the economy of Gorkha.
2. Nuwakot, being situated in higher altitude was suitable for having forts on it.
3. It was the main western gateway to Kathmandu Valley. So it was useful for the collection of information about the valley.
4. The trade between Kathmandu and Tibet passed through Nuwakot. So, Gorkha could make trade relations with Tibet.

After this, Prithivi Narayan Shah decided to conquer Kathmandu. For this, he firstly conquered principalities around Kathmandu. He Conquered Naldum, Mahadevpokhari, Lamidanda & Dolkha.

         

After this, Lamjung & Tanahun together attacked Gorkha. During this attack Lamjung was defeated and in order to defeat Tanahun, Prithivi Narayan Shah called King Trivikram Sen of Tanahun to establish the friendly relation with each other. But instead of having friendly relation with Trivikram Sen, Prithivi Narayan Shah arrested him.

King Trivikram Sen was released later.

In 1814 B.S

In 1814 B.S, Prithivi Narayan Shah started his military expeditions.

After 1814 B.S (War in Kirtipur)

After 1814 B.S, Prithivi Narayan Shah conquered Pharping, Bodegaon & Khokana. Finally, he decided to invade Kirtipur.

          In this time, Kirtipur was helped by Jayprakash Malla. Thus, Gorkha can not get victory over Kirtipur for the first time.

          Kalu Panday was killed due to this war. During this war, Kantipur, Bhaktapur & Patan had supported Kirtipur in battle. Prithivi Narayan Shah was no upset with his defeat. Instead of this, he moved forward to defeat Kirtipur. Till that time, he conquered Pharping, Panga, Chobar, Dhulikhel, Panauti, Khadpu & Banepa. Lamjung with 24 principalities attacked Gorkha but was chased away. In 1823, Bhadra, the Gorkhali force made an attack on Kirtipur for the second time under the command of Shoorpratap Shah, younger brither of King Prithivi Narayan Shah. This time also the Gorkhalis were defeated and Shoorpratap Shah was hurt in his left eye. Finally in order to invade Kirtipur in 1823 B.S, the Gorkhali troops surrounded Kirtipur from all sides, for three months, i.e from Magh to Chaitra and made the blockade which created scarcity of goods & compelled the people of Kirtipur to surrender. Hence Prithivi Narayan Shah got victory over Kirtipur during third attack in 1823 B.S, Chaitra.

War in Makawanpur

          Prithivi Narayan Shah sent his army to attack Makawanpur, under the command of his four brothers & Kazis. During this war, one thousand Makawani were killed. In 1814 B.S, Bhadra 9, Makawanpur was defeated by Gorkha. Gorkha conquered Makawanpur & the king of Makawanpur, Digbandhan Sen went to the Hariharpur. Gorkhali troops captured Hariharpur & Digbandhan Sen was surrender.

In 1819 B.S

          In 1819 B.S, troops of Mir Kassim, Nawab of Bengal, led by Gurgin khan, who came to fight in support of Makawanpur, was defeated. 1700 Muslim soldiers were killed in the battle.

War in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur & Lalitpur

          When the Kathmandu was surrounded by Gorkha, Jayaprakash Malla asked East India Company to send some armies. During the battle at Sindhuligadhi in 1824, the enemies of Gorkhis were defeated. In this battle, Gorkha obtained 500 guns belonging from the British.

          Gorkha attacked over Kantipur at midnight when people were celebrating Indra Jatra festivel. Kantipur was captured & Prithivi Narayan Shah sat on the throne of Kantipur. Jayprakash Malla fled to Patan. On 24, 1825 B.S, Prithivi Narayan Shah captured Patan. Then King Tej Narsingh of Patan & Jayaprakash Malla went to Bhaktapur. Prithivi Narayan Shah finally defeated Bhaktapur in 1826 B.S, Prithivi Narayan Shah requested the King of Bhaktapur, Ranjit Malla to handover Jayaprakash Malla & Tej Narsingh Malla but he refused it. A battle was fought for 3 days. Finally, Ranjit Malla surrenders. He got victory over Bhaktapur on 1826 Kartik 28. 1700 troops of Bhaktapur & 50 troops of Gorkha were killed in the battle.

          After conquering entire valley, he made Kathmandu capital city & conducted administration from there. Prithivi Narayan Shah established capital city of Kathmandu in order to win the favor of people.   

Victory over other states

          After this, Prithivi Narayan Shah conquered Kaski, Rising, Dhor, Paiyun & Bhirkot. On Shrawan 4, 1830 B.S, he conquered Chaudandi, Morang & the Kirant region. On Shrawan 5, 1831 B.S, he captured Vijaypur.

Overall

          In 1799 B.S, Prithivi Narayan Shah first attacked on Nuwakot but they were defeated. The Gorkhali troops attacked Nuwakot in this time under the command of Kazi Biraj Thapa.

          After being defeated, he collected plenty of skilled armies with the help of his father-in-law, Abhimansingh. He started preparation for second attack. Before this, he sent Kalu Panday to establish friendly relation with Lamjung as it was the strong neighboring state & was great enemy of Gorkha. Similarly, he established friendly relation with other strong neighboring states do that they would not attack Gorkha, while Gorkha are going to attack Nuwakot. After completing all preparation, the gorkhali soldiers invaded Nuwakot, in 1801 B.S. During this war, Shankhamani Rana, commonder of Nuwakot army was killed. Finally, the troops of Nuwakot went to Belkot. Prithivi Narayan Shah invaded Belkot.

          To chase the Gorkha from Nuwakot, a troop was sent under the command of Kashiram by the king of Kathmandu, Jayprakash Malla. But Kashiram was defeated. Kashiram was killed by Jayprakash Malla thinking that he helped the enemy.

In 1814 B.S, Prithivi Narayan Shah started his military expeditions. In 19^th  Jestha, 1814, Prithivi Narayan Shah made first attack on Kirtipur. During this time, Gorkha got very bad defeat & Kalu Panday was killed.  In this war, Kantipur, Bhaktapur & Patan had supported Kirtipur in battle. In 1819, 9^th of Bhadra, Gorkha conquered Makawanpur & king of Makawanpur, Digbandhan Sen fled to Hariharpur. In 1819, 22^nd of Ashwin, Gorkhali force captured Hariharpur & Digbandhan Sen was surrendered. In 1819, 10^th of Magh, the troops of Mir Kassin, Nawab of Bengal, led by Gurghin khan, who came to fight in support of Makawanpur, was defeated. 1700 Muslim soldiers were killed in the battle. In 1823, Bhadra, the Gorkhali force made an attack on Kirtipur for the second time under the command of Shoorpratap Shah, younger brother of King Prithivi Narayan Shah. This time also the Gorkhalis were defeated and Shoorpratap Shah was hurt in his left eye. In 1823 B.S, Gorkhali troops surrounded Kirtipur from all sides, for three months, i.e from Magh to Chaitra and made the blockade which created scarcity of goods & compelled the people of Kirtipur to surrender. After this, Prithivi Narayan Shah decided to conquer the principalities around Kathmandu Valley. He Conquered Naldum, Mahadevpokhari, Lamidanda & Dolkha.

     After this, Lamjung & Tanahun together attacked Gorkha. During this attack Lamjung was defeated and in order to defeat Tanahun, Prithivi Narayan Shah called King Trivikram Sen & arrested him. In 1824, 24^th Ashwin, Kathmandu was surrounded by the Gorkhali & King Prithivi Narayan Shah imposed economic blockade over Kathmandu Valley. It created scarcity of goods & commodities in Kathmandu Valley. Jayaprakash Malla, the king of Kantipur sought for help from the British East India Company against Gorkha. The troops sent by British under the charge of Captain Kinlock to help, Kantipur was badly defeated by the Gorkhali troops in the battle at Sindhuli. In this battle, Gorkha obtained 500 guns belonging from the British.

          In 13^th Ashwin 1825, Gorkha attacked over Kantipur at midnight when people were celebrating Indra Jatra festival. Kantipur was captured & Prithivi Narayan Shah sat on the throne of Kantipur. Jayprakash Malla fled to Patan. In 24, 1825 B.S, Patan surrendered & the King Tej Narsingh of Patan & Jayaprakash Malla of Kantipur fled to Bhaktapur. In 28^th Kartik, 1826, Gorkhali troop invaded Bhaktapur. Prithivi Narayan Shah requested the King of Bhaktapur, Ranjit Malla to handover Jayaprakash Malla & Tej Narsingh Malla but he refused it. A battle was fought for 3 days. Finally, Ranjit Malla surrenders. 1700 troops of Bhaktapur & 50 troops of Gorkha were killed in the battle.

     In 4^th Shrawan, 1830 B.S, King Prithivi Narayan Shah proceeded towards the east & occupied Chaudandhi, the Sen kingdom of eastern Nepal. In 5^th Shrawan, 1831 B.S, Gorkhali troops moved across the Koshi River & conquered Bijayapur, the last Sen Kingdom. The boundary of Nepal reached up to Mechi River in the Nepal. Chaudandi, Morang & Kirant region was occupied on Shrawan 5^th, 1831 B.S.

     He was tring to March towards Sikkim but he died at devighat on Magh 1, 1831 B.S.

War at Lamjung

          Lamjung was the age old enemy of Gorkha. Prithivi Narayan Shah responded by sending an army under the command of Kiriti Mahoddam & Bansa Gopal Panta. The Gorkha troops met the Lamjung troops at Salimpa & a battle was fought. The Gorkha troops defeated the Lamjung troops & captured it.

How was Shankarmani Rana killed?

Ø      As Gorkha troops attacked Nuwakot for the last time Jayanta Rana had gone Kathmandu. He had handed over the responsibility of security of Nuwakot to his son, Shankarmani Rana. At that time, Gorkha troops attacked Nuwakot & killed Shankarmani Rana.

Where and how was Jayanta Rana killed?

Ø       After the victory of Nuwakot Gorkha troops attacked Belkot. Jayanta Rana had gone to Belkot from Kathmandu. At that time, Jayanta Rana was arrested & killed in the war of Belkot.